YOUR BUSINESS AUTHORITY
Springfield, MO
YOUR BUSINESS AUTHORITY
Springfield, MO
A presentation on Springfield’s colors in the sky will be in front of a City Council committee tomorrow morning as officials discuss a potential change of the city’s official flag.
The flag, proposed by nonprofit organization Springfield Identity Project, dates back to February 2016, with a core group of four individuals and a committee of about 10 members, along with community input, according to past reporting. The city’s current flag was adopted in 1938.
John McQueary, founding member of Springfield Identity Project, expects tomorrow’s meeting to be a preliminary presentation about the materials available on the group’s website, SGFFlag.org. He said the city has been aware of the design since the beginning.
“Any flag only gains significance to people connecting with it,” McQueary said this morning. “We wanted to create something that would speak to the identity of our city.”
Council’s Community Involvement Committee, chaired by Councilman Craig Hosmer with council members Phyllis Ferguson, Jan Fisk and Richard Ollis, is scheduled to hear the presentation.
Hosmer said the committee will hear a presentation from Springfield Identity Project and the Public Information & Civic Engagement department. The department’s presentation will cover what council would have to do to make the change, Hosmer said.
“We’re not there to make any decisions,” McQueary said of tomorrow’s meeting
Hosmer said there is no scheduled meetings or an established timeline for the flag following the Nov. 5 meeting, but public hearings for community input would be arranged at some point.
“I think the current flag lacks a little creativity,” he said.
City spokeswoman Cora Scott added the meeting tomorrow would “provide direction for the future.”
The proposed flag features a compass crown representing the city’s history as a crossroads. Its three stars represent the city’s connection with nature, entrepreneurial spirit and Ozarks culture, and the white stripe embodies Route 66 and the Ozarks plateau, McQueary has said.
The design is not copyrighted and is open source, McQueary said, leading to the flag popping up all over Springfield.
“We’ve seen it in anything from patches on youth sports teams, to a handful of corporate logos. I’ve seen tattoos,” he said this morning, adding he’s also spotted pins, hats and shirts with the flag design.
McQueary said two local retailers, Five Pound Apparel LLC and Phelps Grove Outfitters LLC, carry merchandise with the flag design.
“The core goal is to create something and connect with the people who live here,” McQueary said this.
Moseley’s Discount Office Products was purchased; Side Chick opened in Branson; and the Springfield franchise store of NoBaked Cookie Dough changed ownership.
A Conversation With … John McQueary